Once upon a time, Savanna was engaged to Daniel, a handsome law student. Theirs was to be a fairy-tale wedding. But Savanna's second thoughts were too big to be ignored, so the would-be bride ran away.

As the years passed, Daniel's heart turned to ice. It is this unfeeling man that Savanna faces when she returns to her hometown. Her first love is now a stranger. Can Savanna ever make Daniel understand why she abandoned him? And can she convince the man of her dreams he will always be her Prince Charming?

If you know anything about me, you know that I'm a firm believer in positive thinking. Here are some wonderful quotes that I hope will lift you up to a wonderful place today! Not until we are lost do we begin to find ourselves. Consider difficulties an opportunity for joy; for when we are tested, our endurance has a chance to grow. Positive thinking evokes better energy, which promotes better initiative, which instills more self-confidence, which brings greater happiness, which leads to inner peace.You are not what you have done; you are what you have overcome. Your life does not get better by chance; it gets better by change.Attempting to change the direction of the wind is futile; work, rather, at adjusting your sails.We rise by lifting others.Your scars do not make you less lovable, nor should they make you less loving.Your mind is a powerful thing... When you change your thoughts, you can change your life.Every accomplishment begins with the decision to try.Do you have a favorite quote that uplifts you? I'd love for you to share it in the comment section. Thank you, and have a beautiful day!

Since Thanksgiving, I have lost over 20 lbs. How did I do it? Well, I walk at least 5 miles every day, and I’ve changed my diet. I love to try new recipes, so finding healthy food that tastes good has been an exciting adventure for me. I’ve hit some home runs and I’ve struck out a few times, too. But isn’t that how these adventures usually go? Lucky for me, I’m married to a man who isn’t afraid of trying new things… and eating vegetables doesn't scare him. Ha!

Every once in a while, I get a hankering for some comfort food. You know the kind, junk food that’s loaded with butter and cheese and lots of empty calories. It’s colder than a penguin’s butt here right now, so I’m looking for something to warm me up and make me feel happy as I wait for spring to arrive. So I’ve searched the internet for some healthy junk food, and here are the recipes that I intend to try.

Image credit: Unlost

Who doesn’t love pasta with creamy Alfredo sauce? Mmmmm. This recipe from Unlost looks like it will really work well for me. It's made with... wait for it... cauliflower. Oh, come on. Don't wrinkle your nose like that. It also has Parmesan cheese and garlic and other yummy ingredients.

Image credit: Pure Ella

This next healthy junk food recipe has me a little uncertain. I really can’t imagine these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies from Pure Ella would stave off my desire for fresh-baked cookies, but I'm willing to give the recipe a chance. (I’ll report back later once I’ve tested them.) This recipe is both gluten free and vegan.

Image credit: Instructables

Finding this recipe for Chocolate Avocado Mousse from Instructables has me super excited. I made a chocolate torte that called for avocados from Oh, She Glows for Christmas dinner a couple of years ago and it was DELICIOUS. So I’m sure this recipe for mousse is going to be very chocolaty and satisfying.

Image credit: Eating Well

These onion rings from Eating Well look like crispy, golden brown circles of delectable goodness. I definitely intend to give these a try. I'm a southern girl, so I absolutely love fried food. If these baked onion rings turn out as crispy as the picture looks, then I'm sure they'll be a hit in my house.

Have you transformed a recipe? I’d love for you to share it! Or are you a comfort food aficionado who thinks “healthy junk food” is an oxymoron?

Several years ago, an Amazon
rep told me that selling my books via Amazon Select—going exclusive to Amazon—would
greatly benefit me as an author. When I voiced some reluctance to remove my
books from the reach of Nook, Kobo, iBook, and Google Book readers, he went on
to explain that, as long as my earnings from other venues was at or below 30%
of my total earnings, then the extra sales I would see at Amazon Select would
make up for the loss.

The terms and conditions of
Select have changed with the invention of Kindle Unlimited, so I don't even know if the 30% rule still applies. I currently have 4
of my 18 self-published books in the Amazon Select Program for a second
3-month stint which will end in two weeks. The way I figure it, it’s good to try
new things. However, the Kindle Edition Normalized Pages (KENP) Read have shown
pretty dismal results/earnings. Before removing the 4 books from Select, I
needed more sales information from the various venues where my books are
available. The charts below are the result of my info-gathering.

Note: The charts below show percentages of my Amazon, Nook, Kobo, and iBook sales. I also sell books
on Google Play and Smashwords. Google Play constitutes about 1-2% of sales in
any given month and Smashwords comes in consistently at under 1%, so I didn’t
bother to include these venues or sales on the charts.

The information clearly shows
that, during the past 4 months, I’ve only had 1 month where Amazon Kindle sales
were greater than 70%.

With the advent of Kobo’s
fabulous new Promotions Tab on my Kobo Author Dashboard, I believe my Kobo
sales and readership will grow. I’m still learning how the promotional
campaigns work and which ones fit best for my books, but it seems that I have
gotten it right 2 months out of 4. I imagine I will only become better at choosing
and marketing the correct campaigns. I can tell you that during the first week
of February, Kobo and Amazon are neck and neck with Kobo at 40.5% and Amazon at
43%. Also, I get a thrill when I see Kobo readers in Nigeria, Qatar, South Africa, Slovakia, Columbia, and dozens of other countries are reading my books.

I know that going exclusive
works well for some authors. I have colleagues who are doing very well selling
their books exclusively at Amazon, and I am truly happy for them. However, I
think authors need to take many things into consideration as we decide to either go
exclusive or go everywhere. It’s a personal preference. For me,
building my readership across all sales venues is what is most important. I
mean, I do call myself an independent author; it just doesn’t seem right to be dependent on any one sales venue for my
income.

What do you think? Let’s
talk. How do you feel about going exclusive? Has going exclusive worked for
you? Or do you utilize all the available venues to sell your books? Please
offer the whys of your chosen plan. Maybe we’ll all learn something new.